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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645104">Children of the Stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissChrisDaae/pseuds/MissChrisDaae'>MissChrisDaae</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Original Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Divergence - Star Wars: A New Hope, Cinnamon Roll Luke Skywalker, Daddy Issues, Darth Vader's A+ parenting, Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Gen, Hurt Luke, Leia Organa Needs a Hug, Luke Skywalker Needs A Hug, Past Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Pray For Piett, Protective Darth Vader, Sad Darth Vader, Sheev Palpatine Being An Asshole</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:07:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,455</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissChrisDaae/pseuds/MissChrisDaae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When their escape from the Death Star doesn't go quite as planned, Luke Skywalker sacrifices himself by staying behind so that his friends can escape on the Millennium Falcon. But with Luke in the clutches of Darth Vader, truths are bound to be revealed, and destinies will inevitably be changed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Luke Skywalker &amp; Darth Vader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>333</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>2020 Star Wars Luke &amp; Vader Winter Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Sacrifice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyVader23/gifts">LadyVader23</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The blast doors opened. </p>
<p>The figure in the black armor swung a hungry, angry red blade. And Luke Skywalker could only watch as Obi-Wan Kenobi seemed to disappear into thin air, leaving only a robe behind.</p>
<p>“NO!”</p>
<p>His cry of anguish alerted the black-masked <em> monster </em> and the legion of stormtroopers already pursuing them.</p>
<p>“Come on!” That was Han. </p>
<p>“Come on, Luke, it’s too late!” That was Leia. The Princess. They’d come to save her. </p>
<p>“Blast the door, kid!” Han again. </p>
<p>Luke felt blood roaring in his ears as he took aim at the control panel. So much was happening so fast, and Ben was just <em> gone. </em>He felt confused, untethered from reality and his own body as his finger curled around the blaster’s trigger. </p>
<p>He missed. And the stormtroopers were still advancing, the killer in black was coming, and somehow, Luke knew. </p>
<p>This was Darth Vader. This was the man who had betrayed the Jedi and murdered Anakin Skywalker. </p>
<p>“Luke!”</p>
<p>“Kid, come on!”</p>
<p>
  <em> Run, Luke, run!  </em>
</p>
<p>The final voice might have been Ben’s but Luke wasn’t even fully aware of what his own thoughts sounded like anymore, let alone the world around him. He just kept firing, trying to push through because it couldn’t be real. Ben couldn’t be gone. Somehow, the shots he took kept hitting while the stormtroopers missed him again and again.</p>
<p>“Go without me! I’ll buy you time!” He distantly heard himself shout to Han and Leia. Why had he said that? The troops were getting closer now, and he found himself wishing for… <em> An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age. </em></p>
<p>He still knew almost nothing about the Force. Or lightsabers. Or Jedi. But with every fiber of his being, he reached out and offered up a brief prayer. <em> Father, help me. Be with me. </em>The whole galaxy seemed to tremble as he suddenly felt a weight landing in the empty palm of his left hand, and everyone stopped. </p>
<p>Then he heard the ramp of the <em> Falcon </em>seal shut and the engines picking up. He ducked as the ship began to take off, hitting the ignition of the saber in the process. The blue blade crackled to life and he felt all eyes on him. As well as all the blasters. </p>
<p>Yet no one fired. The only sound was the terrible rasping <em> whooo-ksssh </em>emanating from the mask of Darth Vader. </p>
<p>Luke straightened his spine and raised the blade high as the black-cloaked menace approached. But rather than reignite his own lightsaber, Vader reached out, and, as easily as it had come to Luke’s hand, Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber flew into the grasp of his killer. </p>
<p>“Why do you have this, boy?” Vader asked slowly, pointing the blue beam of light directly at Luke’s face. He could feel the heat from it on his cheeks. “I will know if you attempt to lie.”</p>
<p>The question was not what Luke had expected. He’d been expecting questions about the Princess, or the Rebels, or the plans hidden in Artoo-Deetoo. But not his lightsaber. Luke stayed silent, swallowing his fear. Vader took a step closer, close enough that the tip of the lightsaber signed a few strands of hair hanging in Luke’s face. </p>
<p>“Answer me. Or I will make you. <em> Why do you have this?” </em> The deep voice boomed and echoed throughout the hangar. “<em>How did you get it? </em>” Luke clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to be struck down like Ben had.</p>
<p>Instead, he heard the saber retract. “You two. Take him to a holding cell,” Vader ordered. “And stand guard outside. The rest of you are to go after that ship! They must not escape so easily.”</p>
<p>The two stormtroopers grabbed Luke’s arms, pinning them behind his back as they began marching him back towards the detention levels where Leia had been kept.</p>
<p>He didn’t understand why the lightsaber mattered so much to Vader. Or what Vader was going to do to him.</p>
<p>Maybe they were waiting to see if they could catch the <em> Falcon </em>before interrogating Luke. There wouldn’t be a need to interrogate Luke if they could capture Leia again. </p>
<p>The troopers flung him into a cell and the door sealed shut behind him. It wasn’t the same one where Leia had been, but he didn’t think anyone was going to show up disguised as a stormtrooper to save him. </p>
<p>He hoped they’d gotten away. That they’d made it to the Alliance and delivered the plans. He didn’t know what the plans had in them, but after everything that had happened to him since he saw that message, he understood now that the Empire needed to be stopped, starting with the Death Star. If that meant he had to sacrifice himself, maybe that was alright.</p>
<p>He picked at his nails as he waited. He chewed his lip and paced the room, he made scratches on the walls and stared at random spots. There was no way of knowing how long he was in there, but eventually, the door opened and a gaunt-faced man in an Imperial officer’s uniform stepped in, holding a pair of binders. </p>
<p>“Hold out your hands, please,” the man said, and Luke obeyed slowly. The binders closed around his wrists with a firm click. “Now follow me.”</p>
<p>“Where are you taking me?” Luke couldn’t help asking as the man led him out of the cell by his arm. The stormtroopers followed behind them, their synchronized footsteps an ominous drumbeat in Luke’s ears.</p>
<p>“You are being moved to a secure location on Lord Vader’s orders,” the man answered. </p>
<p>“Why?” <em> Did they find out I’m just a nobody from Tatooine? Why not just execute me?  </em></p>
<p>“Because Lord Vader ordered it.”</p>
<p>“Why did he order it? What does he want with me?”</p>
<p>“Stop asking questions.”</p>
<p>“I just want to know what’s going to happen to me.” Luke protested. The officer didn’t respond, just kept pulling him down the hallway to a different hangar from the one where the <em> Falcon </em>had been, where a Lambda-class shuttle was waiting for them. The ship’s build reminded Luke of the model T-16 skyhopper he’d kept in his room. To think that he’d been playing with it just two days ago, complaining that he’d never get to go anywhere. </p>
<p><em> Careful what you wish for </em>didn’t even begin to cover what he was feeling at this point. The officer moved him into the ship and clipped his bound wrists to a chain attached to the walls. Luke was forced to sit down on the adjacent bench, the stormtroopers sitting opposite him with their blasters still trained on him. </p>
<p>“Put those down,” the officer scolded. “Lord Vader wants him unharmed. Prepare for our departure.”</p>
<p>“Yes, Lieutenant Piett,” the stormtroopers said in unison as they lowered their weapons. Luke glanced over at the lieutenant, mildly glad to have his name now as the shuttle’s pilot started their launch sequence. As the doors sealed shut with a hiss, he was reminded again of Vader’s breathing, and the way the vacant lenses of the mask had stared straight into his soul. How there seemed to be nothing behind them, even with the blue light from the saber illuminating them. </p>
<p>Was that what his father had seen before he died? That expressionless malignant mask looming over him, the cold power of a killer radiating through the air?</p>
<p>“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked the stormtroopers quietly, hoping Piett would not overhear from the front of the ship. The two soldiers exchanged glances for a moment, and he thought he heard one of them snicker. </p>
<p>“Mustafar. He must have something really bad planned for you,” the one on the right answered, sounding more than a little smug. Luke swallowed down the knot that was rising in his throat, but that only made the twisted ball of emotions settle in his stomach, where it seemed to be growing by the second.</p>
<p>Maybe Vader had recognized the saber? Did he think Luke had come to avenge Anakin’s death? If he was being completely honest with himself, he’d been thinking more about Ben’s death than his father’s, but maybe that was also because Ben had been the only connection he’d had left to Anakin, especially with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru gone.</p>
<p>He’d grown up knowing he was an orphan, but it cut deeper now. He had no more family, no connections, no home, and was currently being flown to a planet he’d never heard of, one where he’d probably die a horrible death at the hands of the monster who’d killed his father. </p>
<p>He was surprised that he wasn’t crying. Maybe this was what being in shock meant, feeling like you were drowning in the Jundland Wastes, but with everything being freezing cold instead of burning hot. </p>
<p>As he sat there, chained in place, he thought about everything Ben had said about the Force and how it was everywhere and that the Jedi used it to help people. It had heard him when he’d needed the lightsaber, maybe it would hear him now too. </p>
<p>
  <em> Protect my friends. Help them win this fight.  </em>
</p>
<p>He clung to those two sentences like a lifeline, one he imagined stretching from him to wherever Leia and Han and Chewie were. For a brief moment, he felt a warmth in his chest that seemed both foreign and yet utterly right, as if it had always been a part of him. But then it dissolved into air and he was back in the ship with nothing but dread for what his presumably very short future would hold. </p>
<hr/>
<p>“Are they away?”</p>
<p>“They’ve just made the jump into hyperspace.”</p>
<p>“You’re sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship?” Tarkin asked. Vader only tilted his head in response, but it seemed to satisfy the Moff.  “I’m taking an awful risk, Vader. This had better work.”</p>
<p>“The capabilities of the Death Star have been demonstrated. The Princess will not waste time in delivering the stolen plans to the Alliance,” Vader pointed out as he saw his shuttle making its departure into the voids of hyperspace.</p>
<p>“What is that?” Tarkin asked sharply.</p>
<p>“I ordered Lieutenant Piett to escort the accomplice we captured to my fortress at Mustafar, for safekeeping,” Vader answered bluntly.</p>
<p>“In the future, my lord, I should very much like to be notified before you conscript one of my officers for your personal needs.”</p>
<p>“You forget I don’t answer to you.” The sound of his respirator felt louder than ever as a black-gloved prosthetic hand clenched around the silver and black hilt he’d taken. “And it is hardly personal business where the Force is involved. Such matters fall to me and to the Inquisitorius by default.”</p>
<p>Tarkin continued to speak at him, but Vader ignored him, instead letting his thoughts return to the memory of the confrontation. The lenses of his helmet had tinted the boy in the same bloody red as everything else he saw, but there were some things that could not be warped by the torturous life support suit. Things like high, proud cheeks, and a resolute grace in the clench of a jaw. Things like a deep compassion behind the eyes, and a familiar yearning mixed with fear and uncertainty.</p>
<p>He should have had a blood test taken before he’d ordered the boy sent to Mustafar, just to be certain, but he already knew it. He had felt it in the Force.</p>
<p>
  <em> Our son. He’s alive, Padmé. I found him.  </em>
</p>
<p>He might have thanked Kenobi for bringing them together, except for the fact that Kenobi’s betrayals were the reason he’d been deprived of his child for the last nineteen years. He’d mourned once for all the milestones he’d lost with the death of his family, but now he mourned them again for their <em> theft.  </em></p>
<p>Someone else had been there for his child, to soothe every tear, to witness him learning to talk and walk, to watch him grow. An entire lifetime of precious milestones and experiences that Vader had been denied sharing with his son. But no longer. He would deal with the Rebels, and then, he would see to it that his son’s destiny was secured.</p>
<p>“I’m speaking to you,” Tarkin said curtly and Vader slowly turned to look at him with disdain. </p>
<p>“I thought there was nothing more to be said,” he retorted. “I have no interest in trading barbs the way you did with the late Director Krennic. I had the rebel moved off the base so that any attempts his comrades might make at rescuing him will not be possible. Does that explanation satisfy your curiosity?”</p>
<p>Tarkin did not flinch and stepped closer until they were eye to eye. “Can I at least count on your considerable expertise as a pilot when we reach the rebel base? I have no doubt there will be some attempts to thwart us while the primary weapons system is being prepared.”</p>
<p>“The Emperor has never seen a need to question my abilities,” Vader reminded him, letting the question of whether Tarkin considered himself wiser or more important than the Emperor hang in the air, unspoken. </p>
<p>“Whatever Erso did cannot be allowed to compromise us.”</p>
<p>“You have made your feelings quite clear on this matter. If there is nothing else, I will be going now. To prepare for our arrival.” He did not wait for Tarkin’s permission, he did not need Tarkin’s permission. He simply strode out of the chamber and back to the quarters that had been assigned to him.</p>
<p>He would have preferred one of his customized apartments, equipped with a hyperbaric chamber, but for now, his main priority was making contact with Vaneé. As soon as he arrived, he activated the viewscreen and opened the secured frequency to his fortress on Mustafar. </p>
<p>The hooded form of his servant flickered into view and bowed upon seeing him. “How may I be of service, my Lord?”</p>
<p>“Lieutenant Firmus Piett will be arriving soon with a prisoner, a young man.” He’d almost said a boy, the way he’d been calling him in his mind, but speaking it aloud had been a pointed reminder of reality. The ‘boy’ was nineteen. When they were his age, his mother had already finished serving as Queen and begun her tenure as a Senator, and Vader… nineteen had been when he’d made good on his promise to marry his angel. No, his son was not a boy anymore, but without a name, Vader had little else to call him. </p>
<p>“You want the prisoner in the dungeons until you can deal with him?” Vaneé surmised in his master’s silence.</p>
<p>“No!” Vader barked sharply. “You will bring him to the fortress medical center, have him fully examined, and ensure that the resulting files are secured with the strongest possible encryptions. And then, you will find quarters to accommodate him comfortably.”</p>
<p>If Vaneé was surprised by these requests, he did not let it show on his face. “Anything else, my Lord?”</p>
<p>“You are not to inform the Emperor of this. I will be doing so once I have determined whether this man is an asset or a threat.” Vaneé had been a loyal servant to Vader for a long time now, but that also meant that he had come to understand the ways of the Sith and the Rule of Two, and that he had come to understand Vader. “Do you understand?”</p>
<p>“I am ever your loyal and devoted servant, my Lord,” the old man confirmed. “I will do as you command.”</p>
<p>“Good.” Vader ended the transmission and took a moment to stare at his own reflection in the black void of the deactivated viewscreen. It was a visage designed to inspire fear, not familial sentiment. And he did not know yet how far the taint of Kenobi’s influence extended into his son. Was it not enough for his treacherous former Master to have turned Padmé against him? He had to deprive Vader of his son as well? He felt the Dark Side rising within him as he relived the moment that had taken place only hours before. The way Kenobi had died had been too simple, too easy, he’d wanted to make the traitor suffer.</p>
<p>His vengeance would have to be found through his son, in liberating him from the dogmatic lies of the Jedi. Once that was done, they would dispatch the Emperor, and rule the galaxy together, the way he’d wanted to with Padmé all those years ago.</p>
<p>
  <em> Padmé. </em>
</p>
<p>For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself to think about his beloved wife. Beyond the years that he’d spent trying to find a way to bring her back, beyond the grief and anger over losing her that had sustained him for nearly twenty years, all the way back to those last fateful days. He remembered the footage of the funeral, and how he’d watched from the hyperbaric chamber, wanting to see her with his own eyes one last time. She’d looked peaceful, her hands folded over her still-rounded stomach, clutching the japor snippet he had carved for her as a child.</p>
<p>Who else, he wondered, had been involved in concealing the truth, that the child had lived, rather than being buried with his mother, as the funeral had suggested? For that matter, how had the child even survived, if, as Sidious had said, Vader himself was the one responsible for Padmé’s death? Two scenarios came to mind. Either Kenobi had cut the baby from Padmé’s corpse, or the visions which had started the chain of events leading to Vader’s fall were more accurate than he’d believed. The first possibility was gruesome, and probably would have been called <em> uncivilized </em>by his old Master. The second one seemed more likely. The images were still burned into his memory: Padmé crying out in pain, the baby’s wail, Kenobi telling her to save her strength. And yet, if that was the reality, then that would also mean that Sidious had lied to him.</p>
<p>All the more reason to get rid of the old man. He’d toyed with the idea of replacing Sidious before, but only because it was what the Sith were supposed to do. He lacked the incentive to pursue such a goal properly. Now, however, he had a very good reason to see his master eliminated, to seize the throne for himself. He had something precious to fight for, the child he’d believed lost for twenty years.</p>
<p>This time, he would not fail.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Battle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luke was jolted awake by the sound of the engines and a sudden increase in temperature. He’d thought Tatooine was hot, but wherever he was now seemed to be practically boiling, even while he was still inside the shuttle. </p><p>“I hate Mustafar,” one of the troopers muttered. “This place is creepy.”</p><p>“Relax, we don’t have to be here that long,” his comrade said.</p><p>“Yeah, but we could have been part of the attack on the rebel base. I signed up for killing terrorists, not babysitting them.”</p><p>“I’m not a terrorist!” Luke protested.</p><p>“You broke a convicted traitor to the Empire out of her cell, helped her escape, and killed Imperial soldiers. You’re a rebel. That makes you a terrorist.”</p><p>“So what does that make people who kill an innocent man and woman?” Luke challenged, remembering the charred bodies of his aunt and uncle.</p><p>“If they were killed, they did something to deserve it.”</p><p>“No, they didn’t!” His jaw and fists began to clench as he glared at the white-armored soldiers. “They were good people, they never went anywhere or did anything to hurt anyone, including your stupid Empire! They didn’t deserve to die!” The stormtroopers suddenly dropped their blasters, clawing at their throats and gasping for air.</p><p>“Stop!” Lieutenant Piett grabbed Luke by the shoulders, breaking his concentration. The two troopers slumped against the wall as they struggled to get their breath back. When Luke looked into the lieutenant’s eyes, he saw horror reflecting back in them. “I see now,” Piett whispered.</p><p>“See what?” Luke asked, unsettled by the way he could now feel everyone looking at him. As if he were a thermal detonator about to go off. “What are you talking about?”</p><p>“You don’t know?” Piett seemed genuinely surprised. “You don’t know what you are?”</p><p>“What do you mean, <em> what I am? </em> ” Luke asked, his voice rising in panic. Were they talking about the Force? The way Ben had talked, he’d thought everyone had it. But Ben also hadn’t mentioned that the Force could be used to hurt people like that.</p><p>No one answered him, but he could feel a new sense of apprehension and fear as the shuttle landed and the stormtroopers unchained him from the wall. “Walk,” Piett ordered, but his tone had changed to more of a stern reprimand rather than an imperious command. Luke allowed himself to be led out into a world of fire. </p><p>Mustafar was all bloody red and burning orange and deepest black, and they were standing in front of a fortress that pierced the smoke-stained sky like a blade. When he swallowed nervously, the acrid air burned his throat and lungs. If it was possible for a place to be pure evil, then it was certainly Mustafar. And he was a prisoner on this hellish planet. His stomach churned as the stormtroopers and Piett brought him to the massive doors at the entrance of the building, which were already opening with a loud rumbling sound that seemed to make his whole body shake.</p><p>A figure appeared from the darkness within, and they appeared to Luke as a living shadow, with only the pale oval of a face to indicate that the figure was human. And maybe he wasn’t human. Luke couldn’t be sure anymore, after the day he’d had. “Lieutenant Firmus Piett,” the cloaked figure spoke, and it was a husky, masculine sounding voice, stilted and formal. “Lord Vader informed me of your arrival. You may release the prisoner into my custody and return to your duties.”</p><p>The grip of armored hands released Luke’s arms and Luke looked over at the lieutenant. Despite the cold way that the man had treated him for their brief time together, he screwed up his face in what he hoped was a sympathetic expression. He didn’t want to be left alone with this person. “Lieutenant, please.”</p><p>“Goodbye.” Piett’s face remained impassive and unmoving as he stepped away and turned on his heel, leading the troopers back toward the shuttle in lock-step and leaving Luke to his fate. The hooded figure took hold of the binders and pulled them, forcing Luke to follow him into the fortress. The stone doors shut behind them with a rumbling, ominous thud, and a series of eerie red lights flickered to life along the corridor.</p><p>“Your name,” the cloaked figure requested as he pulled Luke along. The prompt, since Luke could hardly call it a question, caught him off guard.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You have a name, do you not? What is it?”</p><p>“Vader doesn’t already know?” <em> If he doesn’t know I’m Anakin Skywalker’s son, why did the lightsaber upset him so much? And why keep me alive? </em></p><p>“<em>Lord </em> Vader,” the figure corrected, “did not disclose that information. However, a name is required for me to follow his orders of creating a medical profile for you.”</p><p>“Why does he want a medical profile for me?”</p><p>“It is not our place to question such things.”</p><p>“I’ll tell you my name if you tell me yours,” Luke offered, hoping to buy himself some time.</p><p>“I am Vaneé, the custodian of this fortress in Lord Vader’s absence and his most humble and loyal servant. As such, I shall be your keeper as well.”</p><p>“Why do I need a keeper?”</p><p>“Because Lord Vader wills it.” They turned a corner into a room that was oddly sterile compared to the death and fire that seemed to make up the rest of this place. It was still all done up in dark tones, but they were somewhat lighter, mostly shades of grey, and the lights were cold white instead of bloody red. Vaneé indicated a medical table in the center of the room as an ominous-looking silver medical droid began to float closer. “Sit here,” he commanded as he removed the cuffs from Luke’s wrists.</p><p>“No,” Luke said, and Vaneé struck him across the face, pushing him onto the table in the process. The question of his name seemed to have been forgotten as Luke's cheeks stung with the impact and Vaneé's eyes seemed to now be glowing and his face distorted with rage.</p><p>“You have no power here, boy,” he snarled as he pinned Luke in place, binders springing out of the table to hold Luke in place by the ankles and wrists. “You are subject to Lord Vader and to the Dark Side, and if you want to survive, you will obey!”</p><p>“Hey!” Luke thrashed about, trying to break free of the new set of restraints. "Let me go!"</p><p>“Sedate him,” Vaneé ordered and the medical droid approached. Luke felt a prick on the back of his neck, and his vision went fuzzy. Then everything went black.</p><hr/><p><em> “ </em>Princess, I do wish you’d reconsider,” General Dodonna said as he came up behind her.</p><p>“We’re short on pilots. We’re running out of time. And I’ll be more help flying than I will be waiting and watching in a command center,” Leia retorted as she finished adjusting her flight suit and grabbed her helmet.</p><p>“You’re too valuable, if we lose you—”</p><p>“General, my mother gave her heart and her lungs to prove her worth to our people,” Leia cut him off, forcing down her sorrow as the thought of her mother’s warm embrace, lively dark eyes, and spicy perfume rose in her mind. “If I’m not willing to do the same, even now, I never deserved to be Princess of Alderaan.”</p><p>“Yes, but,” Dodonna sighed. “There’s nothing I can do to dissuade you, is there?”</p><p>“No,” Leia confirmed as she started climbing into the X-wing. “Everyone here is willing to give their life for this cause, and I’m no more valuable than anyone else who’s already out there.”</p><p>There was another reason, beyond her conscience, beyond her need to serve both the rebellion and the planet that no longer was. She might have simply been sleep-deprived and traumatized from the aftermath of the torture and anguish she’d endured since her capture, but she could have sworn she was hearing the voice of a kindly old man.</p><p>
  <b> <em>Leia, you are our last hope.</em> </b>
</p><p>Something in the way it echoed in her mind made her think of the message she’d recorded only a few days earlier. <em> Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope. </em> Artoo was already locked into place, and she looked over at him. “Are you ready?”</p><p>The little droid beeped and whistled as the cockpit sealed around her and they made their way to the launch tube. As she took off into the darkened sky, the size of the Death Star gave her a moment of pause. <em> I guess one way or another, I’m going to die from this monstrosity, </em> she thought as she wove her way into the chaos of the firefight. </p><p>She could hear the chatter from the other fighters, a few of them obviously shocked that she was joining in, but she kept her focus on locating the exhaust port. She wasn’t part of an official squadron, she was going to have to be fast before the TIE-fighters realized this and started targeting her. <em><b> Leia</b></em>. The old man’s voice echoed in her head again. <b> <em>Leia, trust in your feelings. Allow the Force to guide you.</em> </b></p><p>As she got closer and closer to the massive space station, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck begin to prickle with the sense of danger, and a memory. She couldn’t look behind to see, but somehow, she knew that Vader was nearby, his malevolent presence radiating outward. She had less time than she’d thought.</p><p>As she reached for the targeting computer, the voice returned once more:  <b><em>Use the Force.</em></b> Finally, she placed the voice. It was older, it was sadder, but it was still similar enough to the old, undoctored recordings that she recognized the voice of a Jedi Master. The voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi.</p><p><em> Papa, was this why you chose me to take the plans? </em> She wondered, remembering her final conversation with Bail Organa. Had she been a Jedi infant, saved from the massacre at the Temple and kept safe by her parents to one day be trained in the ways of the destroyed Order by a survivor? A thousand more questions spun off from that first one, but there wasn’t time for that now. She had to dodge as a series of bolts were fired from one of the TIE fighters on her tail, only to hear the sound of an explosion behind her.</p><p>“You’re all clear, Princess.” The arrogant, carefree, wonderfully welcome voice of Han Solo came through on her comms as she saw the other TIEs ricocheting away from her and out into space from the corner of her eye. “Now let’s blow this thing and go home.”</p><p>So the smuggler had a conscience after all. Leia smiled to herself as she took the shot, putting every ounce of her willpower into forcing those two little proton torpedoes into the exhaust port.</p><p>These shots were for Breha and Bail. For her aunts, and her teachers, and her friends, for every last member of her people, for her planet itself. </p><p>As she pulled up and away to join the other fighters, she heard the sound. Within the explosion, there existed soaring triumph in the rush of pieces flying through the air, disintegrating metal, and shattering kyber, but there was also sorrow. So many lives taken by that monstrosity, in its construction, in its use, even in its destruction. Switching her comms to a muted setting, for the first time since Alderaan’s destruction, she allowed herself to cry. She hadn’t even done so in her cell, not wanting to give Tarkin the satisfaction of seeing her tears in the security footage.</p><p>“Great shot, Princess, that was one in a million,” she vaguely heard Han speaking again, and a punctuating howl from Chewbacca. Then, suddenly, a shiver ran down her spine as she felt that same foreboding presence. Vader. He’d survived the explosion somehow. But before she could readjust to find him, to fire off a shot that would finish the job, he was gone. “Leia?” Han’s voice prompted again. “You okay?”</p><p>“I'm fine,” she said shakily as she switched her microphone back on. “I’ll meet you back at the base.”</p><p>They flew back to Yavin 4 in silence, a silence that ended the minute her cockpit opened and the entire Alliance seemed to swarm her. Exclamations of shock, of gratitude, of joy, poured into her ears, then she saw Han coming towards her.  Despite how much they’d argued in the brief time they’d known each other, Leia pulled him into a crushing embrace. </p><p>“Han,” she said, her voice muffled from being pressed against his chest. “Thank you. For coming back.”</p><p>“Yeah, well,” he mumbled,  seeming a little sheepish as she looked up at his face. “I could say I was just angling for a bigger reward, but the truth is, I figured I owed it to Luke. The kid had guts.”</p><p>“Yes, he does,” Leia agreed. And somehow, something in the deepest part of her knew that the sandy-haired boy who’d rescued her hadn’t been on the Death Star when she’d taken the shot.</p><p>Quietly, she made a promise to herself that she would find him, and rescue him, as he’d rescued her. “Are you <em> sure </em>you’re alright?” Han prompted in a surprisingly gentle tone, pulling back from the hug.</p><p>“I need a little time to myself,” she admitted quietly. “A lot has happened in not a lot of time.” </p><p>“Go take it,” he said. “I’ll cover for you.” The generosity and compassion within the offer caught her off-guard, and she could only nod in gratitude as she slipped away into one of the temple’s smaller side-passages. Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath.</p><p>“I did it, Papa,” she whispered into the void. “I did it.” The knowledge that he was still gone, that her mother was gone, that <em> Alderaan </em> was gone, made it a hollow statement. She still felt like she’d lost more than she’d won. </p><p>“They are with you in the Force.” She opened her eyes to see a shimmering blue-edged translucent figure of a white-bearded old man. “Always.”</p><p>“Do I know you?” Leia asked, shifting slightly in preparation to run, in case this was not a hallucination brought on by sleep deprivation. </p><p>“The last time we saw one another, you were an infant I was placing in your father’s arms,” the apparition replied, “but you know me well enough that you sent for me.”</p><p>The voice she’d heard in the X-wing. “Obi-Wan,” she realized. “General Kenobi.” He smiled and nodded at her kindly. </p><p>“Hello, Leia. There is much we need to discuss.”</p><hr/><p>In the void of space, his distress beacon activated, Vader was fuming. The Princess had the Force! There was no other explanation for how she had made that shot, and moreover, it gave a new clarity to her resistance under torture. Clever of Organa to have hidden a Force-sensitive child in plain sight, right under the Emperor’s nose, but now, the girl was no longer protected by her adoptive family. And Vader had all the more reason to see her destroyed, like so many other Jedi.</p><p>It would have to be destruction, after all. The Princess was too stubborn, too zealous in her beliefs to ever be converted for the Inquisitorius, too strong-willed to be swayed by mind tricks. </p><p>His thoughts moved away from the Princess. There would be time enough to deal with her eventually, but he had more pressing issues at hand. Namely, his son. </p><p>With Mustafar on the opposite side of the galaxy, flying there solely in the TIE Advanced x1 was technically possible, but probably not advisable, considering the damage he had likely sustained thanks to that Corellian freighter. What had the inspection said it was called? The <em> Millennium Falcon? </em> He’d find out soon enough, and deal with whoever owned and piloted it, just as he’d deal with the Princess.</p><p>If nothing else, his son seemed to have developed the same knack that Vader had possessed in his youth for getting into trouble and attracting unusual people. The lightsabers at his sides felt heavier than before, particularly the one on the left, the one he’d taken from the boy. Something had possessed him to keep it with him, rather than leave it on the Death Star, and perhaps that was the Force, knowing that this day would end in the Rebels’ favor.</p><p>It was still blue, still the weapon of a Jedi, despite everything he’d done with it in those last days of the Republic. They’d have to remedy that if his son was to wield it properly. To be a true Sith, and a future Emperor.</p><p>Not that the prospect of ruling the galaxy thrilled Vader. He’d had twenty years to see what a nuisance it was and to reiterate his utter contempt for the vast majority of politicians. But if the Emperor was to be eliminated, someone would have to take his place on the throne.</p><p>
  <em> Padmé, this would be so much easier if you were here. </em>
</p><p>He could still see it clearly in his mind’s eye, that idea of her sitting on the throne, with him acting as the iron fist through which she would rule. It would have been perfect. They would have had everything.</p><p>The thought of trying to make it to Naboo briefly crossed his mind, but he thought better of it. Best to not give Sidious any inkling of Vader’s plans by visiting his wife’s mausoleum for the first time since her death. </p><p>The boy was most likely in Vaneé’s custody by now, and if nothing else, Vader trusted in his servant’s devotion to hold firm, as well as the filtration systems that had been installed following Vaneé’s conversion. After all, he didn’t want to see his child become a fanatical wraith, a former shade of himself. The boy wouldn’t need it to fall to the Dark Side. Given enough time and training, it would come naturally, of that, Vader was certain. He’d felt the fear, and an undercurrent of anger, in that brief moment when the boy had stood before him. There was plenty of potential, and at the moment, Vader had nothing but time to think about how to unlock it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Confession</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Upon opening his eyes, Luke turned to the right and scratched a line across the four tally marks he’d already drawn on the wall. Day five as a prisoner had officially begun.</p>
<p>He still didn’t know what had happened when he’d been sedated in the medical center, just that he’d woken up in a sparsely decorated apartment that was probably big enough to fit two of the Lars family homestead. It was done up in the same way as everything else seemed to be around this place, black stone, red accents, dim lights, and such. And it was all seamless, somehow. No cracks in the wall he could chip through, no hidden doors, nothing even remotely breakable enough or big enough for him to make an exit. But the bed was so soft, Luke had very nearly considered staying in it for the rest of his life, and the fresher had an actual bathtub and shower with water, not just a sonic one. And there was an entire wall of the main bedroom that was nothing but black glass, letting him look out over the vast expanses of the volcanic planet. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t been allowed out of the rooms for the last five days, but he was coming to see a strange kind of beauty in the landscape.</p>
<p>His only point of interaction was the daily visits from Vaneé, bringing him three meals a day. There was always an extended attempt to interrogate Luke before he’d actually hand over the tray with the meal. Luke would eat in silence, while Vaneé watched him, and then the old man would take the tray away, leaving Luke without anything that might count as a tool for escape.</p>
<p>Despite the old man's best efforts, so far, Luke had held firm on the silent treatment, something he hadn’t used since he was five years old. <em>Acting like that isn’t going to get you anywhere in life, </em>Uncle Owen had scolded him at the time. “Apparently, it can get me into a creepy castle with an old man in a cloak bringing me weird food and asking me personal questions,” Luke mumbled into the air as he climbed out of bed, making his way to the windows so that he could properly stare out at the horizon, keeping the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. The sun was just coming up, Vaneé would be here soon with breakfast.</p>
<p>Luke wondered what it was about a place like this that would make anyone want to live here. Thanks to his confinement and isolation, he’d spent the majority of his time trying to build upon what little Ben had been able to teach him about the Force. For lunch on his third day, he’d tried to do the mind control thing on Vaneé, but apparently, the spooky old servant was too strong-minded for that. If anything, Vaneé had seemed amused by the attempt, muttered something along the lines of  ‘he will be pleased,’ before giving Luke his food and disappearing back into the void that was the rest of the castle.</p>
<p>Since then, Luke had stuck to trying to move things and trying to sense them. Moving things had resulted in more than a few decorative knicknacks being dropped and shattered on the ground, and sensing now seemed to make him sick. Or maybe it was this place that was making him sick, he’d never felt so much overwhelming <em>evil</em>, not even from the Death Star in the graveyard of what had once been Alderaan.</p>
<p>“How long have you been standing there?” He jumped a near foot in the air at the sound of the deep voice he’d been dreading, followed by the tell-tale whooshing and hissing. “I did not mean to startle you,” Vader said, striding into the room with his cape flowing behind him and coming to a stop beside Luke.</p>
<p>“Well, you did. And I guess startled is as good a way to die as any,” Luke replied as he stared up at the mask, which tilted in response to his comment.</p>
<p>“If I were going to kill you, young one, it would have happened the moment I took this from you.” Vader held up Anakin’s saber, and Luke snatched it out of his hands without thinking, which only seemed to amuse Vader. “Are <em>you</em> planning to kill <em>me</em>, then?” he asked, and his voice had shifted in such a way that Luke might have almost thought he was amused.</p>
<p>“For everything you’ve done, you’d deserve it,” answered Luke, trying to keep his tone even.</p>
<p>“And what is the name of my would-be executioner?”</p>
<p>He’d been asked his name what must have been a thousand times at this point, but for the first time, he actually gave it. “Luke Skywalker. My father was Anakin Skywalker. Do you remember him? Do you remember betraying him and murdering him?”</p>
<p>The speed of the whooshing picked up. “You think,” there was a pause, “you think <em> I </em> betrayed him?” Another pause. “That I <em> killed </em> him?” Luke realized as he took a step back in horror, that Vader was laughing at him. “Who told you that?”</p>
<p>“How can you find this funny?” </p>
<p>“It was Kenobi, wasn’t it?” Vader pressed, turning his gaze out toward the planet. “He spun that pretty little lie for you?”</p>
<p>“Ben told me everything,” Luke said defiantly. Vader’s odd version of laughing continued. </p>
<p>“So then you know what happened here?  You know how Kenobi turned your mother against your father, and used her as the means to come to this very planet? This very ground?”</p>
<p>“My,” Luke swallowed at the unexpected mention, “my mother?”</p>
<p>“And he told you about the duel that happened here, between himself and your father? How they battled for hours until he severed three of your father’s limbs, took his saber, and left him burning on the banks of the river?”</p>
<p>“You’re lying.”</p>
<p>“I assure you, Luke Skywalker,” Vader turned back to him, speaking his name with an unexpected sort of softness and reverence in his voice. “I am not lying. I was there.” A black-gloved hand reached out and Luke felt every muscle in his body freeze up as Vader made contact with his cheek. “I have relived that day in my mind more times than I can count, for it was the day that I lost what mattered most. My wife. My child.”</p>
<p>“No,” Luke managed to get out, his mouth suddenly feeling dry and his head spinning as he tried to reach out in the Force. To find proof of Vader’s deception. But what he found emanating from his captor was something he could only describe as warmth. Warmth and a sense of familiarity that he had no word for. “No, that can’t be.”</p>
<p>“But it is,” Vader confirmed, his modulated voice surprisingly quiet and tender, despite its menacing timbre. “The Jedi work in such ways, Luke, they twist the truth to suit their needs and tear families apart. But not this time.” The hand moved along Luke’s face, brushing his hair from his eyes. “Not this time, <em>my son</em>.”</p>
<p>Anakin Skywalker’s saber slipped from Luke’s hands, falling to the stone floor with a clatter. “No,” Luke groaned again. “It can’t be true, you can’t be. Ben wouldn’t lie to me like that.”</p>
<p>“He got what he deserved,” Vader said, the coldness briefly returning to his voice. “But I think you already know that I am telling you the truth. I feel the conflict in you, the anger, the confusion, the longing. I have known it myself.” His hand had stayed on Luke’s face, thumb brushing against his temple. “But they will make you stronger in time. A powerful Sith, just as I am.”</p>
<p>A bitter taste rose in Luke’s mouth as he remembered telling Ben '<em>I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.' </em>What a sadistically cruel way for the universe to answer that wish. “I don’t want to be a Sith.” He didn’t even really understand what a Sith was, but from the context, he assumed it was the opposite of a Jedi. The ones who followed the Dark Side that Ben had mentioned. Although it was harder to convince himself now that he could trust anything Ben had told him. “I don’t want to hurt people.”</p>
<p>Vader’s hand fell to his side, calling the fallen lightsaber back to his hand. “If you only knew how much you sound like her.”</p>
<p>“Her?” Luke repeated.</p>
<p>“Your mother.” Vader tilted his head as if processing Luke’s confusion. “Would you like to know about her?”</p>
<p>Oh, he was <em>good</em>. If Anakin Skywalker had only been the vague outline of an idea at the edge of Luke’s life, then his mother was even more of a mystery. All that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had ever said was that she was the one who’d named him just before she died. The chance to find out about her was a tempting one, especially after five days in isolation. But he also felt like he’d aged five years in those five days, and he was now wary enough to wonder what the cost for something like this might be. “What’s the condition?” he asked suspiciously.</p>
<p>The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees colder. “There are no conditions. But if you insist on behaving as if I am your enemy, then perhaps it would be better if I wait until you are in a more agreeable frame of mind. I will send Vaneé in with your breakfast, and perhaps we will discuss this at supper  tonight.” He swept out of the room and the door slammed shut before Luke could make any kind of proper response.</p>
<p>In a haze, he stumbled back to his bed and sunk down with his head in his hands. “Ben, <em> why </em>?” he asked mournfully.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Vader took the day to retreat to his bacta tank for meditation. He’d thought they’d been making progress, especially as they’d moved into the subject of Padmé, but then Luke—he savored the name of his son in his mind, <em> Luke Skywalker </em>— had thrown up his defenses, much in the way Padmé had done during those early days at Varykino.  </p>
<p>Perhaps he had overreacted in his decision to leave the way he had, but it was probably for the best. He’d given Luke quite a lot of information without giving him the time to process it. Time would do them both good. </p>
<p>Time was something that passed in a haze when confined as Vader currently was. Memories of Padmé swirled around in his mind. The sparkle in her eyes when she laughed, the passion in her voice when she spoke in the Senate, the tenderness of her hands running through his hair, the warmth of her body under his touch.</p>
<p>He desperately wanted to tell Luke everything about her. And <em>he </em>wanted to know everything about Luke, and the last nineteen years of his life. “My Lord,” Vaneé’s voice interrupted his thoughts as the bacta began to drain from the tank. He looked down at his servant with a glare masked by the respirator over his mouth. “The Emperor is requiring that you contact him.”</p>
<p><em> Damn him to all the Sith hells, </em> Vader thought venomously. “I will need to prepare. Have a table prepared with Luke’s supper to be ready immediately after I am done with the Emperor.”</p>
<p>“Yes, my Lord.” Vaneé bowed as the mechanized extensions of the tank began to replace Vader’s prosthetics, preparing him for the return to his suit. The implantation process was not as tortuous as it had been the first time Vader endured it, but it had never been pleasant. He knew that was the way of the Sith, to live in a permanent state of pain and rage, but at the moment, he found it inconvenient more than anything else. It was difficult to properly enjoy the prospect of the future he now envisioned for himself and for Luke when he was still trapped in the damnable contraption. If he could hunt down and kill Kenobi a thousand times more, he still wouldn’t feel properly avenged for everything the Jedi had done to him.</p>
<p>His cybernetic limbs reattached, the covering of the suit came, next, followed by the helmet closing around his head. A platform rose from the floor to meet his feet as the walls of the tank lowered, allowing him to exit. The sound of his respirator now felt thunderous as he made his way into the audience chamber and saw that the Emperor’s visage was already being transmitted. Immediately, Vader sank to his knees. “What is your will, my Master?”</p>
<p>“I was most displeased that you chose to return to Mustafar without first contacting me,” Sidious croaked.</p>
<p>“I required medical attention<em>, </em> ” Vader explained, keeping his head bowed. “Attention which the crew on the <em> Devastator </em> was not equipped to give me.”</p>
<p>“Pathetic.” Yellow eyes flashed beneath the hood of the Emperor. “All that power, and yet still so weak.” Vader did not respond, knowing that whatever he said would be taken as insubordination and used as an excuse to punish him. “Unfortunately for you, Tarkin is not here to take responsibility for the damage his actions have wrought.”</p>
<p>“If you speak of the destruction of Alderaan, Master,” Vader said, sensing an opportunity. “I have information concerning the Princess Leia Organa that may interest you.”</p>
<p>“Aside from the failure to terminate her when you had the chance, you mean?”</p>
<p>“I do not know how Organa kept it hidden from us for so long, but the Force is strong with her,” Vader answered. “I sensed it when she fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star. Use <em>that</em>, my Master. Remind the galaxy of the treachery of the Jedi, and what it means that Alderaan’s crown princess is one of them.”</p>
<p>The Emperor’s hood retreated slightly as he leaned back. “You surprise me.”  Vader waited for there to be more, he could feel that there was more. “The idea has a certain amount of merit. But we will have to see if it can yield results. I will permit you another day to recover before you are to take command of the <em> Executor. </em>”</p>
<p class="p1">“It’s been completed, then?”</p>
<p class="p1">“You will oversee its completion before dealing with the Rebels.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, my Master,” Vader nodded.</p>
<p>“Do not make such movements without my permission again, my Apprentice. Remember, you serve the Dark Side. You serve <em> me.</em>” The transmission ended and Vader rose to his feet. He remembered plenty of things, like a time when Palpatine had showered him with fatherly affection, made a litany of beautiful, empty promises that Anakin Skywalker had been all too willing to accept, promises that had come with a cost. Another Order. Another Master. And the loss of everything he loved.</p>
<p>Luke would end that loss, he told himself as he strode through the halls of his fortress, following the pull of his connection to his child. They would get past this rough start, and once they dealt with Palpatine, the Rule of Two would still hold, but it would not be a matter of Master and Apprentice. It would simply be a father and a son.</p>
<p>He reached the chamber where Vaneé had assembled a small round table with two seats. Luke was already at one, picking at a plate of food, and Vader took his place in the empty seat. “You’re not going to take off the mask and eat too?” his son asked sarcastically as he stabbed a flank of meat with the point of his knife.</p>
<p>“I cannot,” Vader answered simply. The injuries I sustained is such that I cannot exist as you do, Luke. The suit is more than armor, it is what keeps me alive.”</p>
<p>“Sure.” The dismissive tone got stronger as Luke continued tearing into his food, chewing aggressively as he kept his head down.</p>
<p>“Son.”</p>
<p>“Don’t call me that,” Luke cut him off. “That story you told me? I don’t believe it.”</p>
<p>“Why not?” challenged Vader, trying to maintain his composure and how Luke’s coldness stabbed at his heart. </p>
<p>“Because it’s unbelievable. ”</p>
<p>“And there’s nothing I can do to convince you of the truth,” Vader surmised, “because it’s more comforting for you to picture Kenobi as an infallible martyr, rather than recognize that he intended to use you as the instrument of my destruction, just as he did your mother?”</p>
<p>“Stop talking about my mother as if you knew her.” A flash of anger radiated out from Luke. “You didn’t. You’re not my father, we’re not family. You’re a liar and a murderer.”</p>
<p>“This denial is quickly growing tiresome, young one. I can summon the medical droid with the profile that was compiled for you and compare it with my own—”</p>
<p>“That doesn’t prove anything, it could be faked,” interrupted Luke, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. “Face it, Vader, there’s no way for you to prove what you’re saying.”</p>
<p>They sat staring at each other without speaking, the only sound coming from the constant whooshing of Vader’s respirator. Vader pressed his hands together, thinking of how best to resolve this. “Perhaps you are wrong. I suggest an arrangement. An equal exchange of sorts. You may ask me whatever you wish about the past, whatever you think will catch me in the lie you believe I’m telling.”</p>
<p>“What do I have to give in return?”</p>
<p>“For every answer I give, you must give me one as well.”</p>
<p>“I don’t have anything to tell you about the Rebellion.”</p>
<p>“No, that’s not what I want to know.” Vader shook his head. “I want to know about you. Everything about your life that I never got to share with you. I want to know my son.”</p>
<p>Luke was thinking so intensely, Vader could hear him through the Force. But if he hadn’t had the Force, the looks on his son’s face were such that he could practically read his mind anyway, even through the filtered lenses of the helmet.</p>
<p>
  <em> What does it hurt if I say yes? I’m trapped here no matter what. And I can lie, there’s no way he’s going to know. </em>
</p>
<p>“I’ll know if you lie to me,” Vader said, unable to help himself, and Luke gawked at him. “Kenobi clearly did not teach you how to shield your thoughts, young one. You’re very easy to read.”</p>
<p>“Stay out of my head! And that’s not fair, you can lie to me, but I can’t lie to you!”</p>
<p>“I swear,” Vader said, “in the name of your mother, Padmé Naberrie Amidala, and my own, Shmi Skywalker, I will tell you the truth, Luke.”</p>
<p>Luke swallowed, clearly considering the offer, and Vader’s oath. “Fine,” he said at last. “I’m willing to play.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Conversation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey.” Leia looked up to see Han standing in the doorway of the hovel, Chewbacca beside him.</p><p>“You were gone longer than I expected,” she remarked, packing up the chest with the tools and bits of metal and crystal in front of her.</p><p>“Yeah, well, that was the price of submitting my official resignation,” Han said with a shrug. “Jabba put a <em> lot </em> of effort into trying to get me to stay for a new job.”</p><p>“I could have come with you, I’m an expert negotiator.”</p><p>Chewie let out a howling laugh, one that Han echoed with a chuckle. “Sweet offer, Princess, but if you’d come along, it wouldn’t have ended all that easily. Jabba would have taken one look at you and the next thing you know, well, it wouldn’t have been good.”</p><p>“I’m sorry?” Leia asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.</p><p>“Jabba’s got a reputation for being a pervert,” Han explained. “Even by Hutt standards. And he <em> loves </em> pretty humanoid females. If he saw you, he wouldn’t have let you escape.”</p><p>“I’m sure I could’ve handled it.”</p><p>“Leia, I’m serious,” Han said, sitting opposite her at the little table. “I know that you’re tough, but Jabba’s got a fortress in there, stacked with guards and bounty hunters, and traps, and you’re one person who’s very small. If he decided he wanted you, it would not end in your favor, and you’re,” he paused, gesturing up and down at her, “well, uh, you’re his type.”</p><p>“This is a very roundabout way of calling me attractive, Solo,” Leia said slyly, then immediately berated herself internally for flirting with a man ten years her senior. And a smuggler at that! It was highly inappropriate on a multitude of levels.</p><p>“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” he grumbled. “Now, do you have everything you need here, or is there anything else you have to get for this whole ‘saving Luke’ mission?”</p><p>“We can leave,” she answered, locking the chest and putting it into her satchel. “And we can go back to the <em> Falcon, </em> and you can drop me off at Dagobah before you rendezvous with the rest of the alliance, <em> Commander.</em>”  Han’s entire face wrinkled as he huffed, and Leia let herself giggle a little bit. Ever since he’d been appointed into the ranks of the Alliance properly, Han had been much easier to tease.</p><p>“Wait, I’m sorry, did you say Dagobah?” he asked as they left the little hut together. “What in all nine Corellian hells do you need with a place like Dagobah?”</p><p>“There’s someone there who can teach me to be a Jedi,” she answered, climbing into the back of the landspeeder.</p><p>“You’re joking,” Han said as he and Chewie got into the front seats.</p><p>“No. Now, come on, let’s get back to Mos Eisley,” she replied imperiously.</p><p>Han scoffed, “fine, your highness, but I’m getting a little tired of being your shuttle service, so maybe I should just come with you and learn this Jedi stuff too.” He started the engine before Leia could respond, and started them back across the desert. Leia was glad of the silence, it let her think.</p><p>It had been a week since she blew up the Death Star and had her conversation with the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but she was still very much processing everything that he’d told her. </p><p>She could accept that Padmé Amidala had been her birth mother. It made all too much sense, given what she remembered of her parents telling her of the former Queen and Senator as a child. They must have wanted to give her some connection to the woman who’d borne her.</p><p>She could believe that her birth father had been Anakin Skywalker. She’d seen holos of the man, she knew he and Senator Amidala had been close. It wasn’t unreasonable to think they’d been lovers.</p><p>Even knowing Luke was her brother was fine. More than fine, it was wonderful to know that she still had some family after losing her parents and Alderaan. </p><p>But the final piece of information haunted her, despite her attempts to bury it deep in her.</p><p>
  <em> Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader.  </em>
</p><p>On some levels, it made sense. The reason she could feel that Luke was still alive was that somehow, Vader had realized their connection, and had taken her brother captive, rather than kill him. But that also twisted the vibro-knife deeper for her. Her own father had personally overseen her torture, inflicted unimaginable pain upon her without the slightest hint of who she was, probably even enjoyed it, held her back as Tarkin had destroyed her home and anticipated her execution. It had never occurred to him that she was his own flesh and blood. </p><p>She pulled the scarf wrapped around her head a little closer to her face, both to shield against the wind and sand that the speeder was kicking up, and to hide the expression on her face. She didn’t think that Han and Chewie would look back at her, but even so, she could only imagine how she looked right now. A mix of wrinkles from anger, and a clenched jaw from suppressing tears. Rage and sorrow had been constant companions in the back of her mind, ones that she was trying very hard to leave behind.</p><p> That was the last thing Obi-Wan had told her. <em> Be mindful of your feelings. They could be used against you in the coming battles.</em></p>
<hr/><p>With his plate cleared, Luke folded his arms once more, staring across the table at the man claiming to be his father. This arrangement of exchanging questions was a delicate one, and he still wasn’t sure about how this was going to turn out, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Padmé Naberrie Amidala?” he repeated the name Vader had spoken in his oath. “That was her name?”</p><p>“Padmé Naberrie by birth,” Vader confirmed. “Amidala was the name she adopted as Queen of Naboo, and used in her career as a Senator as well.”</p><p>His mother had been a Queen? <em> And </em> a Senator? That seemed just  as unbelievable as Vader being his father, maybe even more so.</p><p>Vader took advantage of the shocked silence to use the Force, pulling the chair with Luke in it closer to him. “Where were you hidden all this time?” he asked, his voice as deadly and terrifying as it had ever been.</p><p>“Tatooine,” Luke admitted nervously as his fingers curled around the arms of his chair, his knuckles turning white. That information at least he figured he could spare without much fear, given there was nothing left there. “I grew up on a moisture farm on the Great Chott salt flat.”</p><p>“Who was raising you?”</p><p>“That’s not our deal,” Luke pointed out, grabbing at the opportunity to gain the upper hand. “I have to ask a question first.”</p><p>“Very well, go ahead.”</p><p>“I was told she died, but now given how many secrets that were kept about my father,” he said that sentence carefully, not wanting to imply he actually believed Vader was his father, “I’m not so sure anymore. What happened to my mother?”</p><p>Vader grew silent, and that silence stretched out so far, it made the Jundland Wastes seem like the courtyard of the old homestead. “She did die,” he said finally. “Her funeral was publicly broadcast across the holonet, though she still appeared pregnant. And I spent a long time constructing this very castle in the hopes of bringing her back. Without success, I fear. I am,” another long pause, “I am sorry, my son.”</p><p>Somehow, Luke knew the apology ran deeper than just simple condolences. He could <em> feel </em> it, a roiling wave of grief and anguish that seemed all-consuming. Either Vader was a very good actor, or at the very least, he had cared for this woman deeply. “My Uncle Owen and my Aunt Beru,” he offered up. “They were the ones who raised me. They’re gone now too.” And because he couldn’t quite help himself, he added, “they were killed by Imperial stormtroopers who came to the farm looking for the princess’s droids, but I’d already left with them.” Without waiting for Vader to register this information, he moved on to his next question. “What was she like?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“My mother. What was she like?” Luke repeated.</p><p>A black gloved hand reached out and pressed against Luke’s cheek, just like he had that morning, and the anguish began to be replaced with something warmer and brighter than anything Luke had ever felt. “She was unmatched. Endlessly kind, compassionate, brilliant, the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen, even when we were children. I see her in you.”</p><p>“I was always told I looked like my father.”</p><p>“You might,” Vader conceded. “But I am speaking of things that go beyond mere appearances. I see her loyalty and defiance in you, her willingness to give up everything for what mattered to her. Is that not why you sacrificed yourself for the safety of the princess and your rebel friends?”</p><p>“You said you didn’t want to know about the rebels.”</p><p>“I don’t. But through your actions, you reveal yourself.”</p><p>“Fine, yes, I told them to go without me because I thought it was the best way to save them. It was the right thing to do,” Luke said defensively. “I don’t exactly have any reason to care about the Empire, given that it ignored me for most of my life, and then killed the people who loved me and raised me.”</p><p>“You should never have been there in the first place!” Vader’s voice began to grow louder as he rose from his seat. “You were meant to be here, with me, you and your mother! Kenobi—”</p><p>“I’ve heard enough,” Luke cut him off, getting up from his own chair. “I’m not interested in hearing you rant or lecture at me, so I’m going back to my room after I ask you this one last question. Is this really what my mother would have wanted for her family? This place, this galaxy, any of this?”</p><p>“Luke.”</p><p>“I said I’m done. Good night, Lord Vader.” As he turned to walk away, he felt something holding him in place.</p><p>“I will be departing for my flagship Star Destroyer tomorrow night. And you will be joining me.”</p><p>“I don’t think so.”</p><p>“It was not a request, my son. It was an order. I recognize that there are some things you need to adjust to, but your place is by my side.”</p><p>“Did you listen to <em> anything </em> I just said?” Luke asked incredulously. “I’m not joining the Empire!”</p><p>“Yes, you are. This is not up for negotiation. By all means, take the night to cool your heels, but come tomorrow, we are departing for the <em> Executor </em> together.” The hold on Luke released and Vader turned with an almost inhuman speed, disappearing into the darkness. Vaneé appeared just as quickly.</p><p>“Come now, young master, back to your chambers,” the old man said.</p><p>“I’m not your young master,”  Luke hissed, pulling his arm away from the creepy old servant. “And I want to be alone, so stay away from me.”</p>
<hr/><p>Vader looked over the blueprints to the <em> Executor </em>, sketching the modifications to make both to the staterooms nearest his quarters and his private training facility. It was a good enough distraction from how the evening had dissolved into a disaster. They’d had a connection, he’d felt it, but as soon as the Empire was mentioned, things had started going to every kind of Sith hell.</p><p>“He gets it from you,” he said aloud, “doesn’t he? That same stubborn streak, that irritating nobility that blinds him to what we could accomplish together, what we could make of this galaxy? Why can’t he see what I see? Why couldn’t you?”</p><p>Better not to pick at that wound of her betrayal. Even after all these years, it was still raw, still easily opened. And he still blamed himself as much as he blamed her. He never should have left her, he should never have given Obi-Wan the opportunity to influence her. </p><p>“My Lord.” Vaneé said from the doorway. “The young master has retired for the evening. I’ll dispatch a droid in the morning to start packing his clothes.”</p><p>“Good. And once you do that,” Vader turned to face his servant. “You are going to get me the private frequency of Lieutenant Firmus Piett.”</p><p>“Of course, my Lord,” Vaneé bowed his head in acknowledgment. “ Will there be anything else?”</p><p>“Have any of the guards changed since Luke’s arrival?”</p><p>“No, my Lord.”</p><p>“And have any of them made contact with anyone outside the fortress?”</p><p>“None of them, my Lord.”</p><p>“Good. Once Luke and I have departed, kill them all. Make it look like a skirmish with the locals. I’m not taking chances.” Piett himself would have to be brought into the fold, but the same instinct that had told Vader to put the man in charge of transporting Luke to Mustafar told him that the lieutenant could be trusted. “That will be all.”</p><p>“Yes, my Lord.” Vaneé’s footsteps retreated and Vader returned to his work. It was to his benefit that the <em> Executor </em> was still technically in development, though he’d been looking forward to the construction of the Star Dreadnought for years. The first in a line of unmatched ships that would obliterate the rebels once and for all.</p><p>For a moment of discomfort, he wondered what he might have done if he had not discerned Luke’s true identity, or if the boy had not attempted to sacrifice himself, and they had met on the battlefield. Would he have been able to know his child, even as a full-fledged rebel?</p><p>It pained him deeply to admit that he didn’t know. He’d spent so long thinking that his baby had died with Padmé, the possibility probably never would have crossed his mind in normal circumstances. Luke could have just been one nameless traitor among many. And yet, this was his <em> son</em>, his heir, the legacy of both Vader and Padmé. His presence seemed to burn in the Force, an unmatched beacon of light and warmth. How he’d gone undetected all these years beggared belief.</p><p>Hiding the boy out on Tatooine <em> was </em> a stroke of genius on Kenobi’s part. Put the one person who might matter to Vader on the planet Vader would least want to visit. Certainly a better choice than placing him with either Padmé’s parents or her sister, on the Emperor’s homeworld and in a prominent family who just buried a beloved daughter that the galaxy had believed died while still pregnant. </p><p>But why entrust Luke to Lars and his wife, rather than raising the boy and training him personally? Why not corrupt him with the dogma of the Jedi from birth? Not that Vader was complaining, since the oversight would make his task of showing Luke the truth of the Force easier, but it was out of character for the old man.</p><p>His viewscreen blinked three times, indicating an incoming transmission and bringing him out of his thoughts. When he switched it on, the visage of Firmus Piett appeared. “Lieutenant. Good.”</p><p>“Lord Vader. I am,” the officer swallowed nervously, “glad to see you survived the tragedy on the Death Star.”</p><p>“Lieutenant, do not waste your time or mine with these empty formalities. I am promoting you to Captain and reassigning you to the <em> Executor, </em>effective immediately.” Piett’s eyes widened as he processed this information.</p><p>“I’m honored, my Lord,” he said slowly.</p><p>“Then you accept?”</p><p>“O-of course.”</p><p>“Good. Then we can move on to the nature of your duties on the <em> Executor.” </em>One of Piett’s eyebrows went up at that statement, but he was wise enough to hold his tongue rather than question Vader, once again proving the Sith’s  instincts to be correct. “This assignment is one of utmost confidentiality, Captain. Breathe a word of it to anyone, and I will respond by eradicating the entirety of your family line.”</p><p>“I understand, my Lord,” Piett said, swallowing nervously at the threat. Apparently, he had family worth protecting. That gamble had paid off.  “What do you need me to do?”</p><p>“You remember the young man I had you transport to Mustafar?”</p><p>“Yes, my Lord, I remember him. You want me to investigate a lead he provided you?”</p><p>“No.” Vader shook his head. “No, something far more important than that. The boy is my son.” He paused, watching with a certain level of amusement as Piett’s face ran through a gamut of reactions to this news. Shock, surprise, confusion, fear, and acceptance flashed by before Piett cleared his throat.</p><p>“I’m sorry, my Lord, I  was unaware that you had a son.”</p><p>“He has been held by the Rebels for some time, with the hope of turning him against the Empire,” Vader explained, choosing his words carefully. “I have managed to recover him, but due to my duties aboard the <em> Executor</em>, I cannot be with him at all times. I therefore am appointing you, Captain, to be his primary aide. You will be staying with him when I cannot. You will make sure he is kept safe, you will help him readjust to his proper place within the Empire, you will be responsible for him in all matters.”</p><p>“Oh.” Again the wave of emotions ran across Piett’s face. There was little doubt in Vader’s mind that ‘glorified babysitter’ was among the newly-made captain’s thoughts. “Would he not be safer on Imperial Center, my Lord?”</p><p>“<em>No,” </em>Vader snapped firmly. “He would not. Do you have a problem with this assignment, Captain?”</p><p>“No!” Piett said frantically, clearly afraid of what refusing Vader would mean. “Of course not, my Lord, the, uh, the young Lord Vader will be well protected in my care, I assure you.”</p><p>At some point, he was going to have to come up with a proper Sith name for the ‘young Lord Vader.’  But later. “See to it that you do. I will meet you in the Kuat Drive Yards aboard the ship tomorrow. Prepare for the transfer, I will oversee all the bureaucratic details.”</p><p>Piett saluted and nodded as Vader cut the transmission, and resumed his work. There was still much to do before he and Luke departed tomorrow.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Meetings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You cannot pretend to ignore me forever, Luke.”</p><p>Rather than say <em> oh, yes, I can, </em> Luke continued to stare out at the stars whizzing past him in the hyperspace lane as they traveled to Kuat. Flying around in a tricked out shuttle with his dad was something he had dreamed of as a ten-year-old kid. He’d gotten more than enough experience with how silence could feel over the years of growing up in a desert. There was always a small element of anticipation, hoping that something would break the silence, but all the while, the bubbling feeling of loneliness was ever present.</p><p>“You’re acting like a child,” Vader scolded from his seat across the cabin. Luke didn’t respond. “Stop avoiding me. We are going to talk about this now.”</p><p><em> You still haven’t answered my question from last night. </em> </p><p>“I heard that. And that question is not as simple as you’re pretending it is.” The next exhale from Vader’s respirator was longer than normal. “Your mother was a brilliant woman in many regards, and she loved her family. But her idealism often prevented her from realizing what was the best course of action, and allowed Kenobi to—”</p><p>“If you try to use Ben as your excuse one more time, I’m going to step out of this shuttle and launch myself into space,” Luke blurted out, unable to help himself. Then he immediately berated himself for letting Vader break him so easily.</p><p>“The man is undeserving of your loyalty, Luke.”</p><p>“But you are?” Luke shot back. “What have you done to prove I should be loyal to you? Move me to a lava planet with only a spooky old man for company? Have me sedated and examined and measured for stuff like this?” He tugged at the stiff collar of the coat he was wearing. Everything in the wardrobe Vaneé had given him was rigid, perfectly tailored, and as black as Vader’s suit. ‘Father and son’ matching uniforms. He knew that was something rich families did sometimes, but when it was Vader doing it to him, it felt like a macabre joke. “Or maybe you’re talking about how you’ve lectured me about things you have no way of proving?”</p><p>“Son.”</p><p>“Again, rhetorical questions.” Luke got up from his seat and slunk into the corner that was as far from Vader as humanly possible. He was going back to the silent treatment, and this time, he was determined not to break again.</p><p>“You have her stubbornness,” Vader said, ignoring Luke’s directive. “She was always so determined to do the right thing for everyone else, so insistent upon being selfless. I think marrying me was the one selfish act of her life.” </p><p>He was not taking the bait. He wasn’t, he wasn’t, he wasn’t. </p><p>“We met as children, you know. She was trying to save her planet from occupation when her ship crashed on Tatooine. I actually helped her repair it. Won a podrace to get the parts. It was also how I won my freedom.” </p><p>Luke looked up at that. He’d vaguely known the story of how his grandmother had been bought and freed when she’d married his grandfather, but they’d never really said anything beyond the fact that his father had left early. For an apprenticeship, Aunt Beru had said. But there was no way a human could actually win a podrace, let alone a kid. He’d heard of a story about it once, from eavesdropping on conversations at Tosche Station, but he’d assumed it was made up. Especially when they’d said it was a nine-year-old slave.</p><p> “I was there with her when she retook her planet too. She led the attack on her palace, and I accidentally ended up in a starfighter and destroyed the enemy command ship.”</p><p>Nine years old and winning the battle for a planet? And banthas could fly. How Vader planned to top that, Luke had no idea. There was no way the story could get more unbelievable. If the Sith had caught any of Luke’s dismissive thoughts, he was doing a very good job of not responding to them, or letting his reaction show.</p><p>“When you’ve had more time to adjust, I’ll take you to Naboo. You still have family there. You even have a cousin who served in the Imperial Senate before it was dissolved.”</p><p>Well, at the very least, he could potentially verify <em> that </em> on the HoloNet. He hoped. Even on Tatooine, the Imperial standards of censorship were well-known.</p><p>“Luke, will you please talk to me?”</p><p>
  <em> No. </em>
</p><p>“You get this stubbornness from her, you know.”</p><p>Luke scoffed audibly, but he didn’t say a word. Vader was plenty stubborn on his own. So maybe he’d gotten a double dose of it, if Vader’s claims about being Anakin Skywalker <em> were </em> true.</p><p>“She was even stubborn about you. She insisted you were going to be a boy, claimed it was motherly intuition. I had been certain you’d be a girl. You kicked quite a lot in those last days.” His breathing seemed to slow as he looked away. “I wish she were here to tell me ‘I told you so.’ I wish I could have saved her.”</p><p>Luke knew it was bait. Vader wanted him to ask what he meant, to engage in a proper conversation. And yet, based on how this one-sided conversation had gone so far, Luke was willing to bet that if he stayed silent, Vader would tell him anyway. </p><p>What he didn’t understand was how Vader thought he would have been able to save her, unless he was supposed to have been a doctor as well as a Jedi. From the one time Aunt Beru had spoken about her, Luke had assumed his mother died in childbirth, which was common enough in a place like Tatooine, especially if you were poor. But maybe it wasn’t common for a Senator from the Emperor’s homeworld. Even so, what was Vader supposed to have done about that?</p><p>In a gesture that Luke chose to take as surrender, Vader stood, walking past him and pressing a hand on his shoulder briefly before leaving the cabin. The familial gesture left Luke shivering, even more than the sight of the absolutely massive ship that was coming into his sights from the viewport as they dropped out of hyperspace. </p><hr/><p>“Is there even anywhere to land in a place like this?”</p><p>“You really don’t have to come with me, I’ll just take the escape pod,” Leia protested from the back seat of the cockpit.</p><p>“Oh, no, Princess, someone has to keep you out of trouble.” The scolding tone of Han’s voice made her feel like a child, and Leia glared at the back of his head.</p><p>“You know, I outrank you,” she muttered.</p><p>“Maybe when we’re with the Alliance, but not when you’re on my ship.”</p><p>“You’re utterly insufferable.”</p><p>Chewbacca howled something that Leia wished she could understand. She’d managed to pick up on a few phrases of Shyriiwook, but not enough that she could have a proper conversation without Han or Threepio acting as a translator. And she’d sent Threepio and Artoo with Mon Mothma before they’d left for Tatooine, which meant Han was her only option. </p><p>“Do I want to know what he said?”</p><p>“Depends on how delicate your sensibilities are.”</p><p>“Just find somewhere to land, laser-brain.” Leia snapped, getting out of her chair and going back into the main cabin to take a moment for herself.</p><p><em> Luke, </em> she thought, <em> Luke, are you out there? Can you hear me? Give me a sign, Luke, please. Let me know you’re alright. </em></p><p>There was no answer. She didn’t expect there to be, but the silence still pained her more than she expected. She could still feel it, the barest tugging in the back of her mind that told her Luke was alive somewhere, but that didn’t exactly give her the real answer she wanted.</p><p>She had considered telling Mon and the other members of High Command about Luke, but she had decided against it. There was too great a risk in admitting the truth about both Luke’s parentage, and her own connection to him. Someone might decide that both of them were compromised, and too great a danger to be left free. There might even be a call for Luke’s execution. And she couldn’t allow that.</p><p>For now, Han and Chewie were the only two who could be trusted with the secret. They were Luke’s friends before they were Rebels. And now, maybe she was too. The ship rattled and groaned as it descended toward the surface of the planet in the middle of a clearing.  Then Leia was flung from the booth onto the floor as the final groan saw them landing. “Han!” she yelped in frustration.</p><p>“You alright in there?” Han asked as he walked in. “Sorry about that. We tried to find a level spot, but this planet was not built for the <em> Falcon.</em>”</p><p>“Again, you really don’t have to stay,” she protested, letting him take her hand to pull her back onto her feet.</p><p>“We agreed we’d see this through to the end. For Luke.”</p><p>“Well, then, we’d better get going so we can find Yoda, and I can start this training.”</p><p>Chewie howled behind them, and Han looked back over his shoulder in disbelief. “Whaddaya mean, you know Yoda?” Chewie responded with a  low growl. “I’m not calling you a liar, I’m just saying you could’ve said something a lot sooner, buddy.”</p><p>“I never mentioned Yoda’s name before now, it’s my fault,” Leia interrupted, grabbing the pack with her supplies and lowering the ramp. “Shall we start looking for him?”</p><p>“To look for me, no need, there is. Sensed you coming I did.”</p><p>“Force!” Leia shrieked and jumped nearly a foot in the air as she saw a little green creature with wide ears standing in the middle of the swamp, a gimmer stick under his gnarled three-fingered hands. He banged it once and beckoned her forward.</p><p>“Come closer, young one,” he said. “See you better, I want to, yes. A long time, it has been.”</p><p>“Since I was a baby?” Leia guessed, remembering what Obi-Wan had told her as she reached the end of the ramp and bowed to the little fellow. “It’s an honor to meet you, Master Yoda.”</p><p>“Great sorrow I felt, to sense the loss of Alderaan. Terrible, terrible.” He banged the stick against the ground and shook his head. “Not since the Purges, such loss have I felt.”</p><p>“It was awful,” Leia agreed with a slow nod. “But that’s not why I’m here, Master Yoda. Obi-Wan told me to come here so that you could train me. There’s no time to waste, I need to save Luke.”</p><p>Yoda peered at her with his big eyes narrowed in scrutiny. “Padmé, I see in you,” he observed. “But Anakin, I sense in you. Of Luke’s fate, I know. Told I was, before you arrived.”</p><p>“Well, then I guess you can get right to the part of training her, and she doesn’t have to worry about catching you up,” Han said dryly as he and Chewie disembarked, the ramp pulling up behind them. Then something knocked Han down into the mud face first, allowing Yoda clear access to whack him on the back of the head with the knobby end of the gimmer stick. “Hey! Watch it!”</p><p>“Chewbacca, an impertinent one, this is. For what reason, traveling with him, are you?” Chewie gave a series of howls and barks in reply, and Yoda nodded as if it were the most sagelike wisdom ever dispensed. “Mysterious, the ways of the Force are.”</p><p>“Are you okay?” Leia whispered as she took a turn to be the one helping Han to his feet.</p><p>“That little frog is a menace, and I’m not entirely sure if there’s anything you can learn from him.”</p><p>“Teach her, you think I will?” Yoda interrupted, pushing between them. “Hmph. Presumptive, Han Solo. Very presumptive.”</p><p>“You mean you won’t teach me?” Leia asked, panic-stricken. “But I <em> need </em> a teacher. That’s the whole reason we came here, so I can learn to use the Force and save Luke from Vader before it’s too late.”</p><p>“Too late it may already be,” Yoda warned. “Deep within the Dark Side, your brother is. Let him go, Vader will not.”</p><p>“Well, then you’ll just have to teach me enough that I can kill him, won’t you?”</p><p>Yoda stared at her with a burning intensity. “<em>Much </em>of your father, I sense in you.”</p><p>Leia opened her mouth to say that Bail Organa was the only father of hers who mattered, but the severe look of the old Jedi gave her pause. “I need to learn, Master Yoda,” she implored, sinking to her knees so that they were at eye level, “and I don’t know of any other Jedi who are out there. You’re the only one that can help. Please.”</p><p>Yoda was silent for a long moment, letting the air be filled with the sounds of squelching and croaking and shrieking that made up the swamp’s natural soundscape. “Tomorrow,” he said finally. “Start tomorrow, we will.”</p><hr/><p>In the time since his call with Lord Vader, now-Captain Firmus Piett had made the transfer to the <em> Executor </em> and immediately sought out the ship’s medical officer for a heightened prescription of stress tabs. All it had taken were the words “Lord Vader” to get it approved. The Supreme Commander’s reputation preceded him. </p><p>As he waited in the hangar for Vader’s shuttle to arrive, Piett tried, once again, to wrap his head around the concept of Darth Vader having a son.</p><p>There had always been informal secret betting pools amongst the lower-ranked officers about how human the cyborg heir presumptive was. He had to be human to be the heir, after all. But no one ever seemed to float the reproductive aspect of humanity in those betting pools. </p><p>Rather than go down a very uncomfortable and inappropriate line of thought, Piett turned his musings to the boy he now knew to be Vader’s son. It had been clear to him on the shuttle that the young rebel had the same power as Vader, but he hadn’t realized just how similar it was. </p><p>Did the boy look like Vader did beneath the mask? How had the rebels even managed to capture him in the first place? How long had he been with the rebels? None of these were questions Piett wanted to ask Vader, and he wasn’t all that sure he wanted to ask the son either.  He also wasn’t sure of what to call the son. Vader Junior? Vader the second? Was Vader even the family name, or was it the first name?</p><p>The ST 321 entered the hangar, sparing him from further thoughts as he snapped back to attention. Vader was the first to disembark from the ship, and, shuffling several paces behind him and looking every inch the petulant teenager, was his son, now dressed in an immaculately tailored Imperial black jacket and trousers. “My Lord,” Piett saluted Vader as he approached. “Welcome to the <em> Executor. </em>Admiral Ozzel—”</p><p>Vader held up a hand, cutting him off. “I’m not interested in whatever formalities Ozzel thinks are necessary, Captain. I am here now and this is <em> my </em>ship. He does not need to be a part of your mission, as we discussed.” The barely-veiled threat was all too clear. </p><p>“Yes, my Lord, of course. I’ve overseen the modifications you submitted, they should be completed by now.”</p><p>“Should?” Vader repeated dangerously and Piett swallowed.</p><p>“You arrived earlier than expected, my Lord.”</p><p>“Are you planning to kill him?” Vader’s son spoke up, his tone disappointed, but also somewhat resigned.  “Like you killed the pilots who brought us here?”</p><p>“Don’t take that tone with me,” Vader warned his offspring.</p><p>“Casual murder is not my idea of a family bonding exercise,” the boy shot back. Vader’s breathing grew louder as he turned back to Piett. </p><p>“Your charge, Captain. My son, Lord Amyas.” Amyas seemed surprised at the mention of his own name, and Piett was tempted to ask about it, but decided not to get involved in what could well be the most dangerous family squabble in the galaxy. “I will be leaving him in your keeping now, I must contact the Emperor and see about assuming command from Ozzel properly.”</p><p>“Don’t rush through everything on my account,” Amyas muttered.</p><p>“I will see you at supper,” Vader said in a warning tone that made Piett remember his own childhood as the Supreme Commander swept past him and into the corridors of the ship. Amyas stayed put, glowering more to himself than directly at Piett, who cleared his throat nervously.</p><p>“Lord Amyas,” he started to say, but the young man cut him off with an ice-cold glare.</p><p>“My name is Luke, I have no idea where Amyas came from,” he said bluntly. “And I remember you, Lieutenant. We don’t need to do introductions.”</p><p>“I’ve been promoted to Captain, actually.”</p><p>Luke’s lip curled up in dry amusement. “I didn’t know babysitting required a certain rank.”</p><p>“I take my responsibility as your aide and bodyguard very seriously, my lord.”</p><p>“Fancy way of saying you’ll be a very good babysitter because you don’t want Vader to kill you.”</p><p>“You are a very,” Piett searched for a word that wouldn’t upset his new charge, “perceptive and precocious young man, my lord. Shall we go see your quarters?”</p><p>“Do I really have a choice?”</p><p>Piett exhaled slowly through his nose. “Amyas. Luke. I understand that our first meeting left much to be desired, and that you are at a delicate point of transition from your ordeal with the Rebellion.”</p><p>“I’m not like Vader. I don’t kill people just because they annoy me, so stop worrying about offending me and just be honest with me. Alright? And no more Amyas or my lord stuff. At least not while we’re alone.”</p><p>“It won’t happen again.” Piett swallowed, half-certain Vader was about to jump out of the shadows for disrespecting his son, “Luke.”</p><p>"Good, then we can get on with this whole tour thing."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Lessons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Luke, please try to move a little faster. Tardiness is not a virtue to your father,” Piett scolded gently as they moved down the hall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You say that like anything is a virtue to him.” Luke pointed out, still shuffling along at a slow pace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even so, if we are late, I will be the one of us more likely to face consequences,” Piett said, finally fed up enough with Luke’s behavior that he took him by the arm and started pulling him along. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So why work for Vader, if he scares you so much?” Luke asked, now matching Piett’s strides so that he wouldn’t be dragged.  “Why not leave?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I have a duty to my galaxy,” Piett answered. “And I wanted to serve it. As intimidating as Lord Vader might be, I can’t deny that he serves the Empire well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke toyed with the idea of arguing with him and decided to do it. “My uncle said nothing really changed for Tatooine when the Republic became the Empire, so it doesn’t really matter either way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Backwaters like Tatooine are hardly an appropriate metric for the success of the Empire,” Piett replied dismissively. “Thanks to criminals like the Hutts maintaining their corruption, and the Rebellion forcing the Empire to divert funds and resources away from humanitarian aid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or is Tatooine such a backwater that the Empire wouldn’t bother with it even if the Rebellion weren’t around?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Were it up to me,” Vader’s cold voice boomed from the door at the end of the hall, “the blasted place would have been the Death Star’s first target.” Luke’s black-armored ‘father’ stood glowering as they made the last few steps to reach him. Not that he ever looked like he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> glowering, what with that mask. “You’re late.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Piett makes good company and conversation.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Better than you,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Luke added mentally.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a thought born out of spite more than anything else. His life on the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Executor </span>
  </em>
  <span>consisted almost entirely of interactions with Piett, because he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without the Captain, or speak to anyone else, and Vader always seemed to be busy with something. And there was some truth to the statement that Piett was good company. He’d certainly been accommodating enough in answering every question Luke had about the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Executor. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Of course, all of those answers usually came laced with some flavor of Imperial propaganda. He’d never really thought about how insidious the whole thing was until he’d found himself constantly inundated with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If what Luke said hurt Vader, he didn’t let it show, merely placed a hand on Luke’s back as he forcefully guided him into the room. “You are dismissed, Piett. We will be busy for the next several hours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, my Lord.” Piett bowed to both of them, then backed away as the door sealed shut. Luke looked around to see where he was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like most everything else made by the Empire, there was a lot of black and grey, but there was also white, on a few droids unlike anything Luke had ever seen before. They reminded him slightly of Threepio in that they had a vaguely humanoid shape, but they also looked a lot more skeletal and foreboding, and they seemed to be holding weapons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not ready for those yet,” Vader said. “But we are going to start your training today.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Training?” Luke echoed, looking back over his shoulder at Vader and hoping that he didn’t mean what Luke suspected he meant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s time we started making you into a proper Sith.” Vader pushed back his cloak to reveal a familiar-looking lightsaber in his hands. “We will have to see about making you a saber more fitting—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to use my </span>
  <em>
    <span>father’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> saber,” Luke interrupted, moving forward to snatch it out of the black-gloved hands. “But I’m never going to be a Sith.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luke, this is the path you were destined for,” Vader warned, keeping his tone even. “You are meant to be by my side as my son and heir in all matters. This is not up for debate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Luke demanded. “Why do I have to become what you are? I don’t want to hurt people. And that’s all the Empire seems to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Interesting.” Vader drew his saber and activated the blade, taking a stance with his legs spread wide and both hands on the hilt. “Tell me,” he said, advancing on Luke, who had to switch on the sapphire beam of his own weapon in order to block the incoming swing of red coming towards him, “do you consider the Princess Leia Organa to be a good person?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Luke grunted as their blades crashed together with a piercing sizzle that made his entire body vibrate. Vader was inhumanly strong, pushing against Luke relentlessly until he fell backward onto the ground, his saber slipping out of his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even knowing that she has the blood of the nearly two million souls who were on the Death Star on her hands?” Vader asked as he loomed over Luke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” The Death Star had been destroyed, he’d be vaguely aware of that, but this was the first Luke was hearing of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Leia</span>
  </em>
  <span> being the one to do it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I sensed it in the Force when she fired the shot,” explained Vader as he continued to hold his blade just above Luke’s face, keeping him pinned on the floor. “Do you think she regrets snuffing out so many lives?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could be lying,” Luke pointed out, but his voice quavered, betraying his uncertainty.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could be. But I’m not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Death Star destroyed Alderaan. There had to be more people there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Traitors, you mean,” Vader corrected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean kids. Parents. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Families</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Luke argued, finally gaining enough confidence to roll to one side and get back on his feet, grabbing his saber as he did so. “How is that not worse than the Death Star?” This time, he was the one to swing, but it was a wild, haphazard strike that Vader easily deflected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was necessary.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But it wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>right.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is right when you make it so.” Vader pulled the hilt from Luke’s hand into his own  with the Force once more. “That is the power of the Dark Side. To bend the world to your will, to make things as you want them to be. As they </span>
  <em>
    <span>should</span>
  </em>
  <span> be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t sound right to me, it sounds cruel. Like the way gangsters and slavers talk on Tatooine. And that’s not what I want. It’s not who I am.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vader actually flinched. It was minuscule, but Luke still caught it. What had he said that had struck such a nerve?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it that you want, then?” Vader finally asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me go?” Luke suggested, knowing full well what the answer would be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You asked.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even if you were not my son, I would not be doing that, you’ve already seen too much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And if I weren’t your son, I’d already be dead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you wonder why I don’t want to spend time with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vader circled him once, the blank eyes of his mask never leaving Luke’s face. “You will stay here and train,” he said as he produced a controller and activated one of the droids. “The PROXY will supervise you until I return.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When will that be?” Luke asked, eyeing the purple-tinted droid nervously. It gave him a vague sense of missing Threepio. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whenever I decide you’ve had enough. PROXY, instruct Lord Amyas in fundamental drills,” Vader ordered. “No interface. Just get him started in the basics.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At some point, we are going to need to have a conversation that doesn’t involve one of us  just leaving!” Luke called after Vader’s retreating back. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Vader had headed straight for his own quarters after leaving the training room and sending a summons to Piett’s frequency. To his credit, the Captain was waiting at the doors when Vader arrived, standing at attention and stepping aside so that Vader could enter first before following.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to training with Lu—” Piett coughed, “Lord Amyas?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You call him Luke,” Vader realized at the poorly covered slip, his temper flaring up. That kind of intimacy between his son and someone else… it brought back infuriating memories of creatures like Rush Clovis. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He requested it, my Lord,” the captain explained as he shifted his weight nervously. “He prefers not to stand on such formalities, and I thought it best to accommodate him, based on my own experiences.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your own experiences,” echoed Vader. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have three girls, my Lord. A thirteen-year-old, a five-year-old, and my youngest just turned one. And while your son is significantly older, it seems some experiences are universal. Especially in cases of estrangement.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tread carefully, Piett,” Vader warned, but the truth was that the captain had piqued his interest. He had marked the unease when he’d threatened the man’s family, but it hadn’t occurred to him what that family might entail.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My family has always been somewhat at odds with my decision to serve the Empire, and it’s become more difficult since my wife passed last year.” It was rather impressive how stoic Piett was remaining, to the point where Vader was actually unsettled by it. Did he not grieve for his wife the way Vader had mourned Padmé all these years?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who tends to your children, if not you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Their grandparents on Axxila,” Piett answered, “who believe I should have resigned my post when Valara died.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how to do anything other than be a soldier. I couldn’t think of another way to provide for my family, which I have as much of a duty to as I do to my galaxy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vader’s discomfort swelled inside him like a burst of lava in a Mustafarian river. This felt like the sort of conversations he’d had with Padmé on the nature of love and duty. “You had a point you were making, Piett?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love my girls, sir, and I would like to believe that the elder two know I love them, but the time we spend apart creates a distance that makes it difficult to connect. As well as my sorely lacking knowledge of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Princess Sparkle Squad.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Princess… </span>
  </em>
  <span>what?” Vader could not bring himself to finish the sentence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sparkle Squad.</span>
  </em>
  <span> I cannot fathom the appeal, but I do know that it makes them happy when I watch with them and try to engage in discussions. So I keep doing it. I have no wish to overstep, my Lord, but perhaps your son would appreciate a similar effort on your part? Allow him to decide your next activity, or discuss his interests?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The confusion, embarrassment, and annoyance Vader had been feeling morphed into shame. Of course Luke had to have interests, but they’d never had a conversation long enough to get to that point. “I… suppose…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s mentioned an interest in ships and piloting,” Piett offered helpfully. “You might start there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The revelation brought Vader an unexpected measure of joy.  Of course his son would be a pilot. With his bloodline, trapped on a planet like Tatooine, how could he not feel that same desire to fly as far away as possible? “Your service is to be commended, Piett,” he said, not even a little grudgingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is my honor to serve you, the Empire, and the galaxy, my Lord.” Piett saluted him automatically. “Do you want me to go retrieve Luke from the training hall?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. He still needs to be prepared for the reality of his position. He is second in line for the throne. A few hours training is the bare minimum of that. How long did you drill when you were in the Imperial Academy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At least four hours a day, my Lord.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly.” He was about to dismiss Piett when the security interface on the far wall began to flash. Even before Vader looked closer, he knew it would be the training hall. “Luke,” he groaned. “What are you doing now?”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Luke had decided to take advantage of his rare lack of supervision to get in some real exploring. If he managed to escape this place on his own, or the Alliance rescued him, he wanted to have useful information. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first step was to get out of the training hall and ditch PROXY. Easier said than done, as the droid would not let up in its attempts to make him do lightsaber drills. He almost preferred the way Ben had taught him, with the hovering droid shooting blasts at him, at least there had been variety there. But the one advantage to this was that it was easier than he’d expected to slowly make his way towards the door, and then duck, just as the droid was striking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lightsaber hit the control panel, which sparked and hissed as the doors slid open. While the droid struggled to pull out the saber, Luke swung his own blade, neatly decapitating it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a droid, Vader could have it fixed somehow, he reassured himself as he shut off his weapon and started down the corridor. It wasn’t like it was Threepio or Artoo. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t take him more than one rounded corner to realize that he’d done a very bad job of thinking this through. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>Executor</span>
  </em>
  <span> was massive, and he had never been to this part of the ship before without Piett. He hadn’t been anywhere without Piett. And what was worse, he could see screens at corners of the hall, along with touchpads. There were probably maps and data in there he could have accessed if he had a code.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You’re sweet, but you’re also the worst spy ever,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he imagined Leia saying dryly. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Did you have any kind of plan before you started this? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, well. Vader was inevitably going to come after him anyway, might as well get good and lost until then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Three lefts, a right, straight ahead, up two levels in a turbolift, then down three— “Hey!” He stopped and turned to see two stormtroopers advancing on him, and the one who spoke sounded familiar. “What are you doing here, Rebel scum?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span><em>Oh, kriff.</em> The troopers who’d brought him to Mustafar. That's how he knew their voices. “I’m not who you think I am,” he said, waving his fingers the way Ben had done in Mos Eisley. “You can go about your business.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cute,” the trooper who hadn’t spoken scoffed. Then, without warning, he slammed his blaster into Luke’s stomach, knocking him to the floor and causing him to drop his saber. Luke struggled to breathe as his assailant grabbed the hilt. “What are you, some kind of wannabe Jedi?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give that back,” Luke rasped, trying to reach for his father’s weapon. The other trooper kicked him straight in the face and he heard the sickening crunch of his nose breaking, seconds before the burning pain began to spread and he let out a yelp of anguish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s for the choking, you little brat,” he growled, grabbing Luke by the hair and pulling him up. “Consider the rest of this retribution for your rebel friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The one who’d used his blaster as a melee weapon doubled his fists now, and started punching Luke again and again, anywhere he could find space to hit. Despite the spreading numbness as his face tried to protect him by shutting down, Luke felt the plastoid armor split his lip and slice into his cheek. There were definitely bruises forming on his stomach and ribs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The troopers switched positions so that the kicker could have his turn while the other one held Luke up by the arms. It was getting harder to stand, harder to stay conscious.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Release him.”</em>
  </b>
  <span> A familiar booming voice cut through the haze. “</span>
  <b>
    <em>Now.”</em>
  </b>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Lord Vader!” As the grip loosened, Luke felt himself gently cradled by the air—</span>
  <em>
    <span>the Force?—</span>
  </em>
  <span> as he was lowered back to the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can explain,” one trooper, he didn’t know which one, began to say, but that explanation was drowned out by the sounds of a </span>
  <em>
    <span>snap</span>
  </em>
  <span>, </span>
  <em>
    <span>hiss</span>
  </em>
  <span>, </span>
  <em>
    <span>swish</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and two </span>
  <em>
    <span>thuds </span>
  </em>
  <span>in rapid succession. Luke was vaguely aware of two white objects suddenly rolling on the ground near him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>
    <em>No, you cannot</em>
  </b>
  <span>,” Vader intoned as he began to lift Luke up with the Force again. Luke tried to open his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a garbled string of syllables. “It’s alright, son. I’ve got you.”  Vader’s voice suddenly became much softer as they began to move.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What route they took, Luke didn’t know, but when they stopped, it was in a bright white room that came with its own hissing sound. He was laid down carefully on a flat surface and became aware of a second dark shape hovering next to the one that he knew was Vader. “What,” he managed to get out before wincing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ribs may be broken,” the droid reported, giving voice to Luke’s thoughts. “Further examination is required.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In a moment,” Vader commanded. “Help me take this off first.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luke narrowed his eyes, trying to see through his daze as the droid moved around Vader. Slowly, the silhouette changed, but he couldn’t quite tell how. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something pricked him in the arm and his vision suddenly began to focus. His eyes moved up Vader’s familiar armor, but when he got to the place where the mask should have been, there was a pale, bald head, scarred on the top and beneath one eye. The eyes themselves were an eerie, sickly yellow rimmed with red, and they seemed to hold within them a bottomless well of both anger and sorrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t scare me like that,” Vader said, and it genuinely shocked Luke to hear how thin and wispy that voice sounded without the helmet and modulation. A gloved hand pressed against Luke’s cheek and he wondered if he was imagining tears in Vader’s eyes as the Supreme Commander sank down to his knees, putting them at eye level. “Please, Luke, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I can’t lose you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I,” Luke swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry at the sight of someone so terrifying in such a vulnerable state. “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to work,” the medical droid said, sounding a bit like it was complaining. “Please replace your helm and leave, Lord Vader.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll talk more after your injuries have been treated,” Vader promised.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Luke nodded weakly,  despite how much it hurt. And then, perhaps because he was starting to slip out of lucidity again as the droid injected something else into him, another word fell from his lips. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Father.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>If Vader heard it, he didn’t acknowledge it as the world went black.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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